Over the weekend I have ordered some lens hoods for my new Canon lenses. In my adoption of Canon cameras and lenses I have been noticing the differences between Nikon and Canon. And there are some things that are just glaring differences. Almost all the Nikon lenses I have ever purchased came with a lens hood. Of the 3 Canon lenses I have purchased only one came with a lens hood. Maybe Canon only ships lens hoods with their L series lenses. If that is true that is just stupid.

Well, amazon.com has a huge selection of Canon lens hoods.

Why would I suggest you use lens hoods? Two main reasons. First the lens hood helps cut down flare and improves contrast in a photograph. If you have bright lights shining at the lens then it does wash out an image. If you want to test this use your hand to shield light from the sun or bright lights. And you will hopefully see the contrast difference. Second, I use lens hoods as protection for my lenses. I don’t believe in using UV filters on the front of my lenses for protection. And (knock on wood) lens hoods have acted as perfect protection for the front glass element of my lenses.

Why would I spend $300-$1500 on a nice lens with excellent glass and precision optics and then place a piece of plastic or a cheap piece of glass in front of the lens?

The only filter that I would use is a circular polarizers. The circular polarizer helps make blue skies bluer and clouds more contrasty and bold. It also helps make colors more saturated. Polarizers also help reduce reflections on water, green plants and even objects. They are the one filter Photoshop can’t imitate.

So there is my mini-soap box on lens hoods and circular polarizers.

Yeah, I was and still am saving up money for the Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens – that is the gold standard lens that I have been lusting after for quite some time now, however, it is about $1900 online and it is going to take a while to save up the dinero for that bad boy.

In the meantime I figured I would take a baby step in that direction by investing in the Canon 85mm f/1.8. Is there a difference in the two lenses besides that magic f-stop? No, that is ridiculous what kind of stupid question is that?! I kid. The 85mm f/1.2 comes with a lens hood. Oh, and the 1.2 is an L series lens.

Right now I have one Canon lens – which is ok – but what happens if I am out photographing and that lens breaks? Then I have a camera body with no lens. I have my Nikons to pick up the slack – but it’ll be nice to have a few Canon lenses.

Also – photographing with a full frame camera – such as the Canon 5D Mark II I have realized that 50mm almost feels like a wide angle lens. So the 85mm will give me a little bit of a feel of a telephoto.

My luck? I will probably get the 85mm in the mail before my Canon 5DII gets back from repairs.

And I am also thinking of buying a Canon 28mm f/1.8 – that would be a baby step till I can afford the Canon 24mm f/1.4. It is weird – Canon has a HUGE selection of lenses – much more than the Nikon world.

I think most photographers have a favorite lens – and that they keep that lens on their camera almost all the time. I would say that I am a fan of my Canon 50mm f/1.2 (although that lens is my only Canon lens right now). It is on my camera 100% of the time. For my Nikons I find that I use my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 80% of the time and only change it when there is a need for a different lens.

So I decided to ask photographers on Twitter and Facebook what their favorite lenses were and here are some of the responses:

• favorite lens is the Canon 24-70 f2.8L USM. It is pretty much glued to my camera body.
• I love my 70-200 2.8 IS.. I love the depth of field I can get with it &I love the crisp photos it creates. I use it 50%
• My 85 1.8 is my favorite, but it’s my least used since it’s not practical for my usual applications. 28-75 2.8 is most used
• Canon 28 2.8 (I’m on a crop sensor) is on my camera 60% of the time.
• I use my 50mm 1.8 the most. Want to replace it soon though, it’s getting old..
• Great question. My favorite lens is my 35/2 Leica, but I don’t use it the most. The lens that gets used the most is the 24-70 on the D3.
• 24-70 2.8 %95 of the time

Recently I received an email asking which lens to buy – and they were comparing a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 and the Canon 24-105mm f/4 IS. They like the functionality of the IS (image stabilization) but they also like the f/2.8 of the other lens. (hey Nikon and Canon – when are you going to build a lens that is 24-70mm with f/2.8 AND VR or IS?)

My recommendation was to buy BOTH! Actually I am joking. I recommended he try them out first and then decide from his experience which lens he could buy. I recommended he check out http://borrowlenses.com. For about $100 he could rent both lenses for a week and see which lens he liked more.

There are so many types of lenses out there – and lenses that meet the different needs and budgets for each photographer. And I would highly recommend renting or borrowing a lens to try it out before you buy. There is nothing worse than buying a lens and then never using it. I have one or two that just stay in my camera bag.

Me? I will go for aperture over VR or IS. It isn’t just photographing in low light – it is creating the magic blur behind the subject and you really can only do that with a wide open aperture.

Maybe I should write my next post on which lenses you should consider…

I love camera equipment. And yes, it probably borders the line of do I need it or do I want it. There have been plenty of times where I have not thought long term when I purchased a new piece of equipment. And I end up buying something that gets replaced by something shinier and newer at a later date.

I bought the Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 lens and then a few months later I bought the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens and the 24mm sat on the shelf or at the bottom of the camera bag for several years. I think that might happen to a lot of people who invest in hobbies. We buy with what we can afford only to replace it a short time later with something better. It would have been better financially to have waited and bought the nicer item.

Nikkor f/2.8 24mm lens

Looking at my 50mm lenses. I have purchased one at f/1.8, f/1.4, and f/1.2. Each one got more expensive and each one was better than the previous model. And had I just saved up money for the high end model I wouldn’t have spent $600 on the lower end models. Yes, I can sell the low end models but we end up taking a little bit of a loss when we do.

And then there is the baby step model. Maybe we shouldn’t buy the most expensive lens until we are ready. We can always rent the lens and see what we need. There is nothing wrong with the kit lens and we can try lenses before we buy. And let your need determine your purchase – not just your want.

Hopefully this website will give more insight into what works and where you can invest your money – as a hobby or as a profession.

And if you want to find this lens new you can check it out at Amazon.com.